Trump offers to pay overtime salaries of Nasa astronauts Williams and Wilmore ‘out of my own pocket’

US President Donald Trump on Friday (March 22) said he would pay overtime salaries of Nasa astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from his “own pocket”. The duo returned to Earth earlier this week following their prolonged stay in space after their spacecraft faced a technical malfunction. Their mission, launched in June last year, was supposed to last a week but was extended to nine months.

On Friday, the US president was asked by a reporter whether Williams and Wilmore would receive any extra pay for their extended stay in space. Trump responded by saying he’s not aware of it.

“Nobody’s ever mentioned this to me. If I have to, I will pay it out of my own pocket,” he said.

What does Nasa’s policy say?

It is to be noted that Nasa doesn’t offer its employees any salary for extra time while being in space.

According to reports, being federal employees, Nasa astronauts get a fixed salary irrespective of how long they remain in space. But during their stay out there, Nasa takes care of their transportation, lodging and extra food requirement. During extra time, they are entitled to a daily allowance worth a mere $5.

This means that for their 278-day extra stay in space, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are entitled to receive additional compensation of $1,430.

Trump’s reaction

When Trump was apprised of this, he said, “Is that all? That’s not a lot for what they had to go through."

Trump previously blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for not doing enough to bring back the then-stranded astronauts.

“He was going to leave them in space. I think he was going to leave them in space … He didn’t want the publicity,” Trump said, referring to Biden.

Trump also praised his ally and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for completing the rescue mission.

“And if we don’t have Elon, they could be up there a long time,” he said.

In September last year, SpaceX launched a Crew Dragon capsule to rescue the two astronauts. The spacecraft docked briefly at the International Space Station, but Nasa decided to delay their return.

Four months later, Nasa announced that the astronauts would have to wait for another SpaceX rescue vehicle, which would arrive carrying replacement scientists.

(With inputs from agencies)